


the art of flirting on a hoverboard pt. 3

by AnnaRose26



Series: the art of flirting on a hover board [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, This is so soft, and my pining heart can't take it, and so dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaRose26/pseuds/AnnaRose26
Summary: Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Boy and girl get into a bet over who can stay on a hover board the longest. It's a tale as old as time really.





	the art of flirting on a hoverboard pt. 3

"Oh, FUCK yeah." 

The opening notes of Gershwin's _Rhapsody in Blue_ filled the kitchen as Ivy got up to make some more coffee. 

The kitchen that was part of the living space of the organization was every Fixer Upper fans wet dream.

Windows, marble counter tops, a big table, an island and even a special cabinet dedicated solely to coffee mugs upon Ivy's request. ("I don't think one woman should own so many coffee mugs" was Joe's response as he looked at it with a horrified expression.)

Since Rami, Joe and Lucy had shown up, the past few days had passed in a blur. The "Unholy Trinity" as Ivy had dubbed them, had been so generous with their time. They had hosted "office hours" where kids could go in and talk to them in small groups or one-on-one for advice. They each had given a lecture or done a Q and A in one of the auditoriums. 

(Rami had walked on stage for his first Q and A session after Ivy had introduced him and was given a standing ovation which meant that, even several days later, whenever Rami walked into a room, Lucy and Ivy would leap to their feet, applauding wildly.)

Ivy had gotten to spend time with each of them and while she and Rami went way back, she found it incredibly easy to talk to both Lucy and Joe. She felt like she and Lucy had known each other for forever and had even had a wine night with her and Erin one night where they teased her mercilessly about her and Joe's hopeless flirting. 

There had been one incident in particular that Lucy had gleefully filled Erin in on.

~~~

_They had been backstage during Lucy's Q and A session. _

_Ivy was backstage, acting as stage manager after introducing Lucy and Rami, who was the moderator, onstage. Joe had tagged along for support._

_He said. _

_He really just wanted a chance to hang out with Ivy. _

_In a small, dimly lit area. _

_Alone._

_Once Ivy had checked to ensure lights were good, mics on and working and everyone was set, she had made a beeline to Joe who was on the side of the stage. _

_After the third question asking Lucy what it had been like dating her co-star Ivy had had enough of the bullshit and decided to take her boredom out on Joe. _

_"OW. Why did you do that?" Joe hissed as he rubbed his side where Ivy's elbow had delivered a vicious blow._

_Ivy shrugged, "I don't know, 'm bored."_

_Joe rolled his eyes, "So this is your mature decision? To elbow an innocent man?"_

_Ivy considered his statement and ran a hand through her hair. Joe watched it flutter back around her face like so many strands of delicate thread. He wanted that hair fanned out over a pillow, his pillow to be exact. He wanted it in his face as he woke up. He wanted to run his fingers through it when they were watching TV. There had been so many times he had had to physically stop himself from touching her hair._

_"Well, yes. To be fair, you are in my line of fire." Ivy said as the smile she had tried to keep contained broke free as her eyes slid over to meet Joe's. _

_Joe sighed as he shook his head, "Oh, you are so going to regret this"_

_Ivy's brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what he meant when Joe's elbow shot out, knocking into her arm and causing her to stumble a few steps to the right._

_She turned to Joe with a mock outraged look on her face, "Oh, it is so ON" she hissed as she came at him, elbows flying. _

_Joe threw up his arms just in time to deflect the first blows of Ivy's assault. Elbows were being thrown wildly as they desperately tried to keep their laughter stifled so as not to disrupt the action onstage. _

_Finally, Ivy couldn't take it anymore, she was laughing so hard she thought she would choke, "Alright. Alright! Truce. TRUCE." She panted as she held out her hands to catch Joe's elbows in a desperate attempt to get him to stop._

_He felt her hand wrap around his elbow and he dropped his hand to land on her bicep as they stood in the dimly lit backstage area. _

_They were both suddenly aware of how they were the only two people back there. _

_The quiet atmosphere, the dim lighting, the whispered words all came together to set a scene that had Ivy's heart fluttering and a familiar warmth building inside of her once again._

_She could take care of that warmth later. She had taken care of it, multiple times in fact. But no matter how many times she touched herself or came around her vibrator it was always the same name that fell from her lips when she came undone._

Joe

_Joe felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked down at Ivy. _

_She was very aware of how close she was standing next to Joe._

_She could smell his cologne._

_He could smell her perfume. _

_She flicked her eyes up to Joe's and was engulfed by the deep brown. He couldn't stop thinking about her lips and when she parted them to let out a shaky breath he almost let out a groan. _

_She looked down at his lips._

_He kept his gaze on hers. _

_She tilted her head a fraction of an inch. _

_He shuffled his feet closer. _

_And then,_

_There was thunderous applause as Lucy and Rami waved to the crowd and made their way backstage. _

_Ivy's hand fell as she turned her body away from Joe's, unhooking her hair behind her ears to hopefully cover the blush she knew was inevitably spreading. _

_Joe coughed into his hand as he shuffled his feet, trying to look like nothing had happened. _

_And nothing had happened. _

_So, then why, when Lucy looked at them both, did it feel like they had been caught naked?_

~~~

After Lucy had shared that story, Erin and Lucy had done nothing but tease Ivy about the whole thing and offer some incredible colorful descriptions of what, exactly, Joe could do with his hands. While they had gleefully kept trying to figure out ways to get Joe and Ivy back together in a dimly lit area, Ivy had kept another, similar, incident to herself.

~~~

_Ivy had been planning out the month's events late one night. This was a task that required a large chunk of time, complete solitude, her best playlist of 80's Bops and Jamz and one break for pizza._

_Rami, Lucy and Joe had supplied the pizza and the much needed break when they stopped by to check on Ivy. _

_That had been three hours ago and her eyes were starting to cross as she stared at the spreadsheet on her laptop, then to the whiteboard full of indecipherable scribbles then to the planner to her right. _

_She huffed out a laugh as she pulled up a picture of the Charlie Kelly meme from _It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ where he's standing in front of a board that looked much like her own. She stood up to take a selfie in front of the board. She added the two pictures next to each other and tweeted, "_Who did it better?"_ Laughing at her own cleverness it quickly turned to a sigh as she turned her gaze back to the board and the impossible equation before her. _

_~_

_Joe had been hanging out in the living room, sprawled on the couch, halfheartedly watching a Planet Earth documentary and scrolling through social media when he saw Ivy's tweet. _

"Who did it better?"_ Her eyes looking crazy as she stood in front of the same whiteboard he had seen earlier that night. He smiled to himself as he contemplated her picture. Even trying to take a funny picture, she was still so cute. _

_He saw the time stamp and realized she had only sent it out a few minutes ago. He glanced up and made a quick decision. _

_He hopped up from the couch, tucking his phone into the pocket of his sweatpants. He tugged his white t-shirt down as he ambled down the hallway back towards the office area. _

_He padded down dimly lit hallways that felt too quiet. He was already used to the noise that filled the building during the day. People talking over each other, sharing ideas, yelling out to friends, he could almost convince himself the air was thick with unfinished artistic ideas. _

_He started climbing the staircase at the front of the building to see one of the last conference rooms at the end of the hall still lit up. Ivy was standing in front of the white board, hands on her hips. Her hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, heels kicked off and abandoned hours earlier. The faint sound of synths leaking through the doorway indicated the 80's playlist was still going strong. _

_He knocked on the window and laughed as she jumped and turned around to see who was still up. _

_She smiled and Joe noticed her eyes were considerably dimmer, the shadows underneath more prominent. _

_She opened the door and waved him in, "Welcome to my self-imposed prison. Visiting hours are technically over but I can make an exception this once." _

_"Have you interacted with another human since we left you...four hours ago?"_

_"NO I HAVE NOT!! Thank you so much for asking, please save me." _

_He watched in amusement as she sank onto the floor and her head bonked against the wall. Her head fell into her hands as she rubbed her temples._

_"Right, we're getting you out of here. This is...A PRISON BREAK." Joe declared as he leapt onto the table. _

_Ivy just face planted onto the floor, _

_"I can't break free, trademark Queen," Joe nodded his thanks solemnly as Ivy continued to talk into the carpet, "until I get these last two sessions scheduled but the people teaching them have conflicts on the same DAY and I literally cannot figure out how to make it WORK unless I start over and I REALLY don't-"_

_"Switch them with Gracie's seminar and Adam's demo."_

_He saw her body still as she considered what he had just said. _

_She slowly pushed herself up to a standing position as she faced the board with wide eyes._

_She turned to face Joe and stared at him with a dazed look on her face, "You're a fucking genius."_

_Joe shrugged in faux modesty, "So they tell me. Now c'mon, let's get you out of here."_

_Ivy groaned, "Please. I can hear my bed and sweatpants calling to me even from here." _

_Joe chuckled as he jumped off the table and walked towards her. She stuck out her arms and wrapped them around his neck to pull him close to her._

_"Thank you, I was losing my mind." _

_Joe's arms instinctively wrapped around her as he rested his chin on the top of her head, "Of course. Always happy to help you."_

_Ivy pulled away and gazed up at him with sleepy eyes and a soft smile._

_Joe realized how close her mouth was to his. Ivy felt Joe's breath break over her face, the smell of his toothpaste sending her heart fluttering._

_Joe could count all of the freckles that covered Ivy's cheeks. _

_The moment stretched out._

_Ivy's eyes searched Joe's. _

_Joe took a deep breath as he got ready to lower his head down._

_Then Ivy's laptop chimed with a notification and the spell was broken. _

~

She hadn't told anyone about that moment. 

_~_

Ivy poured coffee into her mug as she heard someone shuffle into the kitchen and offered them a "good morning" as she placed the pot back onto the burner. 

Joe rubbed his eyes as he stretched and murmured a good morning back to Ivy. He shuffled closer and tugged on the end of Ivy's ponytail, "When did those even come back?"

"What? Scrunchies?" Ivy asked as she lifted up one hand to feel the leopard print one keeping her hair back.

"Yeah, weren't those popular in the 80's?"

"Umm, yeah but they came back in style months ago. Keep up old man." She teased as she took a sip of coffee. 

"Ah. Please tell me there's more coffee. I don't think I can talk about scrunchies anymore until I have some." 

"Fair. I just made some more. Help yourself." She indicated the nearly full pot and Joe groaned in ecstasy. 

"I know, she's beautiful" Ivy sighed as she wrapped her hands around her own mug and inhaled deeply. 

"Do you guys have any more mugs or..?" Joe asked pointedly as he motioned toward The Mug Cabinet.

"No, just cup your hands, I'll pour some in to them for you."

"Oh perfect, let me just-" Joe cupped his hands as he stepped closer to Ivy who laughed and reached her hand out to push against his shoulder, "We have mugs, obviously. Some uneducated swines might even say Too Many Mugs." She threw a pointed look at Joe as she opened the cabinet with a flourish.

"Okay but like, c'mon Ivy. It's a ridiculous amount of mugs for one woman to own."

"Well if you're just going to insult my mugs then you don't get one." She moved to close the door, 

"Alright, well, hold on," Joe's hand shot out to stop the hand that was closing the door. 

"Mozzarello, you made it very clear that-" Ivy's retort died in her throat as she turned to look up at Joe who in turn was looking down at her. Pinning her in place with his stare. 

Ivy could hear herself swallow extra loudly as she felt her body temperature rise and her cheeks start to flush. 

"I made it very clear, what?" Joe realized his voice had dropped about three octaves.

"That-that, um, you don't...believe...in mugs." She let the sentence die and cringed at how dumb that sounded. 

"I don't believe in mugs, huh?"

"Well, that's what it sounded like!" Ivy could hear her voice starting to rise into territory only dogs would be able to hear and willed herself to take it down several notches. 

Joe's eyes hungrily took in her flushed cheeks, the movement of her throat as she swallowed (he couldn't think too hard about swallowing, he would combust then and there) how her hand was shaking beneath his. He wanted this moment to last forever but also wanted to get to the part where he was finally kissing her. 

~~~

Lucy had been scrolling through her phone as she wandered towards the kitchen. She got closer and something told her to stop.

She looked up and strained her ears as she heard two voices, one distinctly male, the other female. 

She locked her phone, then slowly approached the swinging door. 

The door hadn't closed fully so she peered through the crack and nearly ruined everything by yelling in excitement. 

She spun around and ran into Rami who reached out to steady her,

"Woah, hey, what's going on? Why aren't you-?"

"We need to get out of here, NOW! Or else everything will be ruined, c'mon!" She practically pulled him off his feet as she hurried down the hallway, phone already opened to Erin's contact information as she slammed the call button.

"Someone better be dying. It's a Saturday. The Lord said to rest on Saturday."

"Pretty sure that's Sunday."

"Even more of a sign that I need rest."

"Well you're about to be fully awake because guess who's in the kitchen together, inches apart, practically drowning in the sexual tension they've created?"

Lucy heard the ruffling of blankets as Erin pushed herself up, "Is it? Really? Don't joke with me about things like this. We've waited too long."

Lucy bit back a laugh, "You know I wouldn't call you this early on a Saturday without it being serious as hell."

"Luce, I know you can't see me but I am doing a happy dance on my bed."

"What do you think I'm doing in the hallway now?"

"So...does that mean we can't go into the kitchen to get coffee?"

Rami winced as Lucy's fist connected with his shoulder and Erin's screams came through the phone.

~~~

"So, are you going to get a mug or...?" Ivy had found her throat so dry it took all of her concentration to push the words out. She was starting to worry that she and Joe had been standing in this position for too long and it was no longer flirty but just weird. 

"Yeah. I am. But right now, coffee's not really top of mind." Joe admitted as his eyes flicked to her lips and back up to her eyes.

Her lips parted and Joe knew that if he didn't kiss her in the next 30 seconds he would lose his fucking mind.

"Yeah. Same." Ivy internally rolled her eyes at how dumb she sounded. But, being so close to Joe, so close she could just reach out and grab him, she was surprised she was still standing. 

Joe couldn't tear his eyes away from her own. He knew that someone needed to make a move soon or something, or more likely _someone, _would come and ruin the moment. 

And as if he willed it into existence to ruin his own life, he heard footsteps, Lucy yelling incomprehensibly and then, 

"REV UP THOSE FRIERS BECAUSE I NEED COFFEE" as Sean kicked the door open followed closely by Adam. Ivy heard Lucy getting closer and yelling at them to not do what she thought they were going to do. 

Ivy quickly stepped around Joe to intercept the two men as Joe just stared at a point on the wall.

He had been so close. 

It took everything in Ivy not to knock Sean and Adam's heads together. 

She had been so close. 


End file.
